Onkyo launches future-proofed upgradeable tuner

Onkyo has launched the T-4555, a new DAB/FM/AM separates tuner that offers crystal-clear, Hi-Fi quality DAB/FM and AM reception, but with a twist, as buyers will be able to upgrade this tuner to handle any new digital radio broadcast standards that may be adopted in the UK.

Keeping a weather eye on the future, Onkyo has cleverly considered the possibility of genned up consumers being unwilling to part with large chunks of money for a separates tuner that could potentially be obsolete within a couple of years if the UK adopts the new AAC broadcasting codecs.

DAB+ digital radio is widely expected to replace the old (and aurally inferior) DAB standard almost everywhere, except the UK, soon. We could see DAB+ if Ofcom sanctions it, but the comms industries' regulator's latest consultation, drawing on results from a January survey concluded that the British public is satisfied with the current DAB offering.

Should the DAB+ switchover happen in the UK (and pundits say it eventually will) T-4555 owners will be smugly stroking their chins as Onkyo have promised to make a revised version of the tuner module available, and easily upgradeable, using their unique plug-in technology.